4 Tahrir men held with 'jihadi' books

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-1) members arrested four members of banned Hizb ut-Tahrir from the capital's Dakkhinkhan area on Sunday and seized leaflets, 'jihadi' books and other publications of the organisation from their possession.
The arrestees are Mohammad Hossain Rony, 21, of Ashkona, Kazi Rashedul Huq Rajib, 18, of Langolkot upazila in Comilla district, Sabuj alias Babu, 18, of Nandail upazila in Tangail and Mohammad Hares, 21, of Shribordi upazila in Gazipur district.
Of the four, Rony and Rajib are students of Tongi Government College while the two others are day labourers.
Asked why day labourers were arrested, supposedly for the first time, Rab officials said the organisation is currently trying to recruit people from the workers' level.
Sources said the Rab-1 members at Dakkhinkhan area chased and caught the four youths as they started to run seeing the law enforcement authority. The youths admitted during preliminary interrogation that they were members of the banned organisation.
Rab later held an operation at the house of Rony, from where they seized 405 leaflets of Hizb ut-Tahrir, 105 'jihadi' books, 32 copies of draft constitution of Khilafat State and various other radical Islamic books.
Some mid-level leaders are now leading the organisation after the arrest of its senior leaders, said Rab officials.
The government on Oct 22, 2009 banned the organisation in Bangladesh, saying the Islamist outfit posed threat to public safety. Then, police arrested Mohiuddin Ahmed, the co-ordinator, and Kazi Morshedul Haque, the second in command, of the banned organisation on different dates.